Motor mural comprising a canvas moved along a wall from one spool to another



P" 1947- M. VAN HORNE ,4 9,80

MOTOR MURAL COMPRISING A CANVAS MOVED ALONG A WALL FROM ONE SPOOL TO ANOTHER Filed April 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l 92 INVENTOR. Mark Van-Horne 7'19. 13 I BY l V flaj/mwr.

ATTORNEYS Aprll 29, 1947. VAN HORNE 2,419,802

MOTOR MURAL COMPRISING A CANVAS MOVED ALONG A WALL FROM ONE SPOOL TO ANOTHER Filed April 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Mark Van Horne my a.

ATTURN E75 Patented Apr. 29, 1947 MOTOR MURAL COMPRISING A 'CANVAS MOVED ALONG A WALL FROM ONE SPOOL TO ANOTHER Mark Van Horne, Rochester, N. Y. Application April 19, 1944, Serial No. 531,796

This invention relates to an apparatus for mounting murals upon a wall of a room and, it is one object of the invention to provide an apparatus whereby a mural of extended length may be mounted against a wall of a room and portions of the mural progressively moved into position for display by winding the mural from one roller onto another at the opposite side of a wall from the first roller.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus wherein the rollers carrying the portions of the mural not on display will be hidden and thus not detract from the appearance of the room in which the mural is installed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character wherein the rollers are driven from electric motors and thus permit the elongated strip of canvas or the like bearing the mural to be easily shifted when so desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide guides for upper and lower edges of the canvas bearing the mural and thus hold the canvas flat against a wall and prevent wrinkles from being formed therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for connecting ends of the guides with cabinets in which the rollers are mounted, the cabinets having doors which are normally closed but may be opened when oiling or repairs to the motors are necessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which may be very easily installed in a wall either during building of a house or at a later date.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character which is easy to v install, efilcient in operation and not liable to get out of order.

thru Figure 1 upon line 44.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken horizontally through an apparatus of modified construction intended to be installed after erection of a building.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken vertically 2 Claims. (C1. 40-31) Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing a modified construction.

Figure '7 is a View showing modified construction of guides for the mural.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional View showing the manner in which ends of guides are mounted in the roller cabinets.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken vertically through Figure 8 along line 99. v

Figure 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line Ill-l ll of Figure 8.

Figure 11 is a sectional view taken along line H-Il ofFigure '7.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken above line l2-l2 of Figure '7.

Figure 13 is a wiring diagram for the motors.

Themural constituting the subject matter of this invention may be scenery, pictures of interesting places or objects, maps, charts, or the like which it is desired to selectively display against a wall of a room such as a living room, library, school room or other room where people gather for pleasure, study, or instruction,

In Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 the motor mural has been shown mounted directly against the wall I at an end of a room which serves as a backing for the strip 2 of canvas or other suitable material upon which the mural is painted. The strip of canvas may be of any desired length and the surface thereof exposed in the room may be painted with scenery, portraits, panoramas, or bear charts, maps, or the like according to whether it serves as a decoration, or for use in a school room. If so desired wall paper may be applied to the exposed surface of the strip in series following one another along the strip and by shifting the strip longitudinally selectively brought into view. The strip may also bear tapestries or other decorative or instructive objects. The strip or apron should remain flat and unwrinkled and in order to do so there have been provided reinforcements 3 consisting of thick tapes or ropes which are adheringly secured to the apron.

The canvas strip or apron passes through openings 4 in the wall or backing l and wound upon spools 5 rotatably mounted by bearing brackets 6 which project rearwardly from the wall above and below the slots or openings 4, and from an inspection of Figures 2 and. 3 it will be seen that turnin the spools the mural may be wound from one spool onto the other and a desired portion of the mural brought into position between the spools for display within a frame formed by metal strips 1 and 8 secured'against the wall and extending along the slots and between upper and lower ends of the slots. The strips 1 conceal the slots and are curved transversely, as shown in Figure 2, so that the mural may pass freely through the slots about guide rollers 9 in the slots and strips 8 overlap upper and lower edges of the mural to hide these edges and guide movement of the mural between the slots as well -as'holding the mural fiat against the wall or backing. End portions of the wall and the portion thereof below the frame may be ornamented, as shown at 9, to blend in with the frameand provide an attractive setting for the mural. .If the frame occupies a suflicient area of the Wall the ornamentation 9 may be omitted.

The spools 5 are to be turned in order to wind the mural or apron from one spool to the other and in order to do so there have been provided electric motors I mounted against the rear face of the wall or backing with their shafts projecting downwardly and carrying pulley wheels ll. Larger pulley wheels l2 are mounted upon lower ends of thezshafts of'the spools 5 and about the pulley wheels H and Rar trained 'belts 13 by means of which rotary motion is transmitted from the-motors to the spools. The motors are controlled by a switch-i4, and referring to Figure12 it will be seen that the circuit for the'motors is a three-way system and that by actuatingthe switch the motors may be individually set in motion. Therefore one motor may be en- 'ergized to rotate the companion spoolancl the mural wound upon this spool while it is unwound from the other-spool. The inactive -motor exerts a drag upon the spool from which .the mural or apron is unwound causing the mural to be held smooth against the wall. There has therefore .been provided a motor operated mural which will serve 1 veryeffectively I as a changeable decoration for a wall of afiroom or as a carrier fora-series of maps-charts, instructions, orthe like in a class room-of a school.

In Figures 5 and 6 there has been illustrated an embodiment of th invention wherein the mural is installed in a room as anaccessory and instead of having the wall i-serve as a backing through whichthe mural passes there'has been provided a backing |5"which is mounted flat against the wall in any desired manner. Housings i6 are disposed vertically at opposite ends P of the backing and project forwardly therefrom. Thespools l1 and their'motors l8 are mounted in the housings or cabinets l6 and against inner side walls of the cabinets are mounte'dguide rollers 19 for directing the-.mural or apron 29 through slots 2| which may beformed close to the backing as shown in Figure 6 or near outer e'dgescf the side 'walls 5. Doors 22 are provided at the fronts-of the cabinets so that access ma) be had to the motors andthe'spools for oiling or repairing the motors or removing the spools when it is desired toisubstitute another. mural in place of one which has been in use.

In order to guide movement of the mural between :the cabinets and-support the portion on display gui'des 23 formed'as shown in Figures9 through 11 may be used. These guides are .formed of 'channel metal and each has main .sections 24wand an intermediate section 25. The intermediate section 125 has inwardly'extending flanges 26-.alonglower edges ofits side walls-to engage underside walls of the main sections their ends fitted within the brackets and supported by the tongues 29. Slots 3!] at inner ends of the brackets permit passage of the mural through the brackets. There have also been provided vertical bracing bars or strips 3! which extend between the upper and lower guides and have theirrends bent to form hooks 32 which engage about the main sections of the guides. While two braces 3| have been shown in Figure 7 it will be understood as many may be provided as foundnecessary-to hold the guides parallel and-prevent sagging.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A motor mural for use in conjunctionwith the walls of a room comprising a backing. Dositioned on said wall and formed with slotsnear its ends, spools rotatably mounted adjacent said slots, an apron having end portions wound upon said spools and a portion between the spools covering the front face of said backin andpassing through said slots, rollers engaged bysaid apmn and directin the apron through the slots, :a frame having end strips concealing the slots and the rollers and upper-and lower strips overlapping upper andlower edge'portions of said apron between the slots-and motors for individually driving said spools whereby one spool may be power drivento wind the apron thereon from the other spool.

2. A motor mural for use-in conjunction with thewalls of a room comprising -a backing positionedon said wall formed with vertical slots near its ends, spools rotatably mounted in vertical position back of Said backing andlocated-adl'acent the slots,- guide rollers rotatably mounted in said ,slots, an .apron having .end portions wound upon said spools with a 'portionbetween the spools covering the front face of said backing andpassing throughsaidslots in engagement with said guide rollers, a frame having endportions concealing the. slots and the rollers and upperand lower. portions overlapping and concealing upper and lower edges of the apron between A said slots and holding the apron .close to the front face of the backing, motors companion to said spools, means for transmitting rotation i from said motors to the companion spools, and

means for individually operating said 'motors whereby one spool may be turned'to windthe apron thereon from the other spool.

'MARK'VANI-IORNE.

.REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file vof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date "Hutchinson "J an. 23,1940 

